Luke 20:10-14

20:10 When harvest time came, he sent a slave ¹  to the tenants so that they would give ²  him his portion of the crop. ³  However, the tenants beat his slave ⁴  and sent him away empty-handed. 20:11 So ⁵  he sent another slave. They beat this one too, treated him outrageously, and sent him away empty-handed. ⁶  20:12 So ⁷  he sent still a third. They even wounded this one, and threw him out. 20:13 Then ⁸  the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What should I do? I will send my one dear son; ⁹  perhaps they will respect him.’ 20:14 But when the tenants saw him, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir; let’s kill him so the inheritance will be ours!’

¹ sn This slave (along with the next two) represent the prophets God sent to the nation, who were mistreated and rejected.

² tc Instead of the future indicative δώσουσιν (dwsousin, “they will give”), most witnesses (C D W Θ Ψ Ë¹ Ï) have the aorist subjunctive δῶσιν (dwsin, “they might give”). The aorist subjunctive is expected following ἵνα ({ina, “so that”), so it is almost surely a motivated reading. Further, early and excellent witnesses, as well as a few others (א A B ˹³ 33 579 1241 2542 al), have δώσουσιν. It is thus more likely that the future indicative is authentic. For a discussion of this construction, see BDF §369.2.

³ tn Grk “from the fruit of the vineyard.”

⁴ tn Grk “him”; the referent (the slave sent by the owner) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the tenants’ mistreatment of the first slave.

⁶ sn The slaves being sent empty-handed suggests that the vineyard was not producing any fruit – and thus neither was the nation of Israel.

⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the tenants’ mistreatment of the first two slaves.

⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

⁹ tn Grk “my beloved son.” See comment at Luke 3:22.